Who Is Edgar Allan Poe's New Historicism?

What if Edgar Allan Poe had been born an only child with parents that had not died? Would he have become a traveling actor himself or perhaps branched out into a completely different way? Most assuredly, he would not have been the same person that history is familiar with. Poe might not have even become a poet because of the different circumstances. The New Historicism lens shows how a person’s history majorly influences to what degree that person will grow and what choices they will make throughout their lives. Using the New Historicism lens to analyze the stories Great Expectations and Beloved, will show how the authors’ pasts, classes, and cultures affected their writings.

Victorian England was not necessarily the best time to live

Many families had to struggle just to put food on the table. In some instances, it reached the point where the children of poor families were forced to work, which was exactly what happened to Charles Dickens when his father was sent to a debtors’ prison.

Toiling away in a blacking warehouse, snatched away from school while his sister was able to continue her studies, twelve year old Dickens felt abandoned along with neglected by his parents, which could give insight into why many of his characters are orphans. However, Dickens could be considered as one of the lucky ones. After his father was released from jail, Dickens was allowed to pursue his studies once more and that was when his he would slowly begin to morph into the writer he would become.

Through the course of his journey Dickens held quite a few jobs, especially throughout his younger years. He was a law clerk, news reporter, journalist, and a creative writer. At one point in time, Dickens was very close to becoming an actor, he might have actually been one had he not been struck ill and had to miss his audition. Perhaps, if he had not been sick, Dickens would have been known as an incredible actor instead of the renowned author he is recognized as today. He could have been very close to having a different life. “That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine

Thus would begin Dickens rise in the literary arts. From sketches to novels, Dickens would become well loved for his stories and characters, multiple of which drew parallels between Dickens own life. To name a few similarities, there was his love affair with Maria Beadnell. It was a four year long infatuation that cooled once Maria went to finish her schooling in Paris, then ended when it was made clear to Dickens that he was socially inferior to his love. It could be concluded that Pip and Estella’s relationship was based off of Dickens own experience. Another resemblance shows itself in the ambition to succeed and compulsion to be financially secure shared between Dickens and David